Refrigeration car construction



A. F. OCONNOR REFRIGERATION CAR CONSTRUCTION May 19, 1942.

Filed Jan. 26, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l I I Z? U6 771 01 m J? 05 May 19, 1942. A. F. OCONNO 2,283,508

REFRIGERATION GAR CONS TRUCTION Filed Jan. 26, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet 2 May 19, 1942. A. F. O'CONNOR v 2,283,508

REFRIGERATION CAR CONS TRUCTION Filed Jan. 26, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet s 45- za 5/ 7 73 M 53 I Patented May 19, 1942 rice- Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, Chicago,

111., a corporation of Illinois I Application January 26, 1940, Serial No. 315,644

9 Claims.

The invention relates to refrigerator. cars, and is particularly concerned with refrigerator cars having ice bunkers in the ends of the car, and more particularly with refrigerator cars wherein the ice bunkers or refrigerant compartments are separated from the lading compartment by means of a bulkhead extending transversely of the interior of the car which bulkhead may be moved out of ice bunker forming position to the end of the car or to the ceiling of car in order that the space occupied by the ice bunker may be utilized for lading when the lading is of a character not requiring ice bunker refrigeration.

A large percentage of the refrigerator cars in use today are equipped with ice bunkerspermanently built into the car whereas alarge per: cent-age of the lading hauled inrefrigerator cars does not require ice bunker refrigeration, with the result that these ice bunkers are not used and they occupy space in the car which might be used to good advantage in increasing the-loading capacity of the car. For instance, agreat number of refrigerator cars are used to transport such commoditiesas spinach, celery, lettuce, etc., under what iscommonly known as body-icing,

or floor racks of thecar (usually in crates) and snow-ice is blown over the top of the lading by means of a hose and air pressure at icing. station, at point of shipment. Snow-ice is finely crushed ice and its use in body-icingthe car is such ice grates are added'to the thickness of the bulkhead, against the endwall of canthetwo members occupy considerable space. 7

My invention has for its object the provision of bunker ice grates which maybe lowered toward thecar floor when the ice bunker isnot required. p t a A further object is to utilize the ice grates, when in lowered positionfas a continuation of the floor racks in the regular; lading compartment of car, a flush lading floor being of great importance in eliminating damage to lading caused by offsets or indented floor portions, due to longitudinal movement ofthe ladingin transit caused by car end shocks in train movements, such as switching.

Another object is to provide an ice grate construction which will eliminate the necessity for using both an ice grate and a separate section offioor rack (the latter to form a continuation of the regular lading racks).

A further object is theprovision of an ice grate which may be changed from an ice grate wherein the vegetables are loaded upon the floor used to increase the loading capacity of the car 4 i and, of great importance, to increase the car revenue per load.

Numerous methods have been usedto provide a bulkhead which may be movedout of the way when the refrigerant compartment is not required but they have generally been of designs wherein they occupied more space than necessary, as many of them require that the ice grates (for supporting the ice in the bunker) be folded against the end wall of car, after which the bulkhead is placed against the folded ice grates. As the ice grates, must support a heavy load and are subject to much hard usage and abuse, they are usually made of heavy, thick material. When to a floor rack by simply dropping the grate; this operation requiring no lifting of grates and manually moving same from one position to another.

Another obj ect, is the provision of an ice bunker structure wherein the bulkhead is movable toa position parallel with and adjacent to the end wall of car, and wherein a portion of the ice grate-is adapted for placement between thebulk head and adjacent end wall, said portion of ice grate being of relatively thin constructionadapted to occupy a minimum amount of space.

A further object is the provision of .an ice bunker wherein a portion only of the ice grate ispositioned between the bulkhead and car end, in-stored position, andwhereinsaid'portion may be innested or telescoped relation to the bulk:- head, adapted to requiraa minimumofspace. Another objectis the provision of a foldable ice bunker'wherein all parts of the bunker. are secured; to the car, requiring the handlingof no loose parts in changing the, structure from ice holding position to collapsed position, eliminating the possibility of loss. or 'misplacement of some of the parts which might, render the structure inoperative.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate. similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section through the car taken on line I-I of Fig. 2; one half of the car only being shown.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with the ice grates shown in collapsed position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken along line 33 of Fig. 2 with the ice grates shown in ice supporting position.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken along line 33 of Fig. 2 with the ice grates shown in collapsed or folded position. 7

Fig. is a vertical section taken along line 5-5 ofFig. 2.

In the drawings, I3 indicates a refrigerator car, a bulkhead is shown as I5, a floor rack II in the lading compartment of car, a combined ice grate and floor rack for the refrigerant compartment is shown as I9, while a hinged ice grate is shown as 2|. The bulkhead I5 may be mounted for movement longitudinally of the car as by means of rollers 23 and a track 25 for supporting said rollers and,- when in ice bunker forming position, may be secured against longitudinal movement by means of any of the conventional fastening means for movable bulkheads, the method of mounting the bulkhead and of securing it in its extended or folded positions not forming part of my invention.

A permanently secured floor member 21 may be mounted on the floor or side wall of the car as by means of fastening bolt 29 and end portion 3|, and member 27 may support an end each of structural members 33 and 35 adapted to support ice grate I9 when'in lowered position, the opposite ends of members 33 and 35 being supported upon screen spacer strips 31 by means of suitable brackets 39 and II. Floor member 21 may be provided with an aperture 43 or a plurality of such apertures adapted to allow the descending chilled air in the bulkhead ducts to passtherethrough and enter the space 45 beneath the lading floor rack I! for purposes of circulation of the air throughout the car. Floor member 21 will serve as a floor rack strip, intermediate ice grate I9 and floor rack I! when grate I9 is used to support the lading, providing a plane lading floor. Member 33 may be supported at its forward end by means of bracket 41 which maybe bolted or otherwise secured to member 21. The forward end of member 35 may be supported within an indented portion 49 of member 21 and may be held in place by rivets or other holding means. It will be seen that members 33 and 35 may serve as thrust members between member 2! and the end of the car, adapted to prevent movement. of member 21 longitudinally of the car, as by horizontal forces applied to bulkhead I5, especially when the bulkhead is anchored, adjacent its lower margin, to member 21, as by means of locking bolt 5I.

In theillustrated embodiment of my invention I show a metallic floor lining 53 extending in a common plane throughout the lading compartment and the refrigerant compartment, with upwardly turned edges 55 adjacent the side and end walls of car. It will be understood however that a depressed metallic floor lining may be used under the ice bunker (downwardly onset with relation to the plane of the floor in regular lading compartment) without departing from the scope of my invention, and it will be understood that suitable drains, of any conventional type, will be provided to carry the moisture from the floor of car to the car exterior.

In the event that members 33 and 35 may not be of suflicient strength to hold member 21 against movement additional braces or brackets may be secured to member 21 and adjacent portion of floor lining 53.

Strips 31 may extend vertically from floor to ceiling and may be secured to end lining 59, and screen 5'! may be secured to said strips adapted to provide vertical air ducts 6| between the ice and end lining 59. Similar strips and screen may be used upon side lining 63, within the ice bunker, but I prefer to do without air ducts adjacent side lining 63 if the strips and screen project from lining 63 toward the interior of the car, as such construction will prevent a flush (single plane) side lining extending from regular lading compartment through to screen 51, the elimination of offsets in the side wall of lading compartments being of importance in eliminating damage to lading, such as crates and cartons, which would be damaged by contacting such offset wall portions in case of longitudinal shifting of the lading caused by car end shocks. plate the use of air ducts adjacent side lining 63, in the ice bunker portion of car, wherein the duct is set-into the side wall with its inner wall and the inner surfaceof side'lining 63 in a common plane, which duct construction is the subject matter-of a co-pending application Serial No. 315,466, filed January 25, 1940, in which I am co-inventor.

Grate I9 may comprise a plurality of metallic channel shaped members 65 in adjacent, spaced apart, parallel relationship, with the web portions of the channels in a common plane. The members 65 may be secured in a panel formation by means of a tie-rod 61 extending through the aligned flanged portions of the channel members 65 adjacent each end portion thereof, and the tie-rod may be secured in assembled position by means of suitable fastening members applied to the ends of the rod or as by welding each end of the rod to adjacent portion of member 65.

Grate I9 may be mounted for swinging movement laterally of the car by means of link members 69 and 1| which may be pivotally mounted I upon tie rods 61-61 at one end of the link members and pivotally mounted at the opposite end of the link members in mounting brackets 13 and I5 respectively. The channel members 65 may be held in spaced apart relationship by means of the link members 69 and II intermediate certain of the adjacent members 65, and by means of sleeve members 11 intermediate other adjacent members 65, this spacing apart of members 65 being adapted to permit the free circulation of air through grate I9. Members 65 may be provided with apertures 19 if additional air circulating means is desired.

Mounting bracket I3 may comprise a pair of spaced apart vertically extending plate members 8| provided at their upper portions with opposed outwardly extending flanges 83 and provided at their lower portions with opposed outwardly extending flanges 85 adapted to be secured to floor lining 53 by welding or any suitable fastening means. A bolt or rivet 86 may extend transversely through spaced apart plate members 8| and one end portion of link member 69 whereby to pivotally mount said link member in mounting bracket 73. Mounting bracket I5 may comprise a base portion 61 provided with spaced apart upstanding lugs 89 adapted to re- I contemceive an end portion offlink member'll. Abolt or rivet 9| may extend through spaced apart lugs 89 and link member II whereby'to' pivotally mount the linkmember II; Bracket 75 may be secured to floor lining 53'by means of welding or any other suitable fastening means.

Grate I9 may be provided with a. hinged extension plate 93 adjacent theside wall lining 63 adapted to form an extension of the grate I9 when in lowered position and adapted to assume a depending vertical position adjacent side lining 63 when grate I9 is in upper position, asbest shown in Fig. 3. Plate 93' may comprise a plane, elongated metallic sheet provided along one of its side portions with inwardly extending slotted portions 95 adapted to register with and provide clearance to accommodate the swinging movement of link members 89 during the raising of grate I9 without interfering with said plate 93, slotted portions 95 being only of 'sufllcient length to provide said clearance, and, in cases where there may be no interference these slotted portions may be omitted. Plate 93 may be hingedly secured to grate I9'by means of one or more hinge straps 91 which I prefer to secure to plate 93 by means of welding, straps 91 being pivotally mounted upon the end portions of adjacent members 65 by means of pin or bolt 99 extending transversely through a flange portion of member 65 and adjacent depending lug IIII which may be welded to member 55. Hinge straps 9'! may be formed intermediate their ends with a curved configuration adapted to permit the raising of plate 93 tov a substantially vertical position whilemoval or replacement of bolt or rivet 86.

Plate 93 may be supported in its horizontal position (as shown in Fig. 4) by hinge straps 91 and flanges 83 of brackets I3. Additional edge support may be provided for plate 93 by means of supporting brackets I02 secured, as by welding bracket I02 to floor member 21.

Ice grate 2| may comprise a metallic crossgrating such as the Tri-lok grating, in view of its great strength with a minimum thickness of grate, and may comprise a rectangular grating hingedly secured to spacer strips 31 or other car framing, adapted to be swung to a vertical position against end screen 51, when in folded position, and to be swung down to a horizontal position when in ice supporting position. A bracket I 95 may be secured to bulkhead I5 to support the free end of grate 2| when in ice supporting position.

Bulkhead I5 may comprise a series of vertically extending metal sections ,I [ll provided along their longitudinal margins with lateral flanges I99 and refianges III. The sections I01 may abut each other along their flanges IE9 and may be secured together in a plane extending vertically and transversely of the car by means of rivets H3 extending through the abutting flanges I69 of adjacent sheets. One of the sections Iii'I may be provided with flanges I09 of lesser width than the width of similar flanges on the other sections whereby to provide an ofiset portion I I5 between the said one section and the other sections, adapted to permit grate 2| to assume a nested or telescoped position within the ofiset portion H5 when'grate 2I and bulkhead I5 are in stored or collapsed position adjacent the end wall of car. The reflanges II I of the assembled series of sections I0! may be in a single plane and a wooden lining III may be secured thereto by means of bolts or othersuitable fasteners. Metal sections In! may have perforations II-9' therein and these perforations may extend throughout the area of the section or may be confined to that portionof section IE1 above the top of wooden lining II'I. It will be noted that vertical air ducts are provided in the bulkhead I5 between wooden lining III andime-tal section I91.

One of the important features of my invention is the provision of :means whereby the ice supporting grates, when in non-ice bunker position, permit the bulkheadto'be moved to a position very close to the end wall of car, whereas in prior structures the bulkhead was held away'from the car end by an ice grate of considerable thickness intermediate the bulkhead and car end; A further important feature of the struclnire illustrated in the drawings is the provision of an ice bunker which will hold amaximum amount of refrigerant, as it will be noted that, when the ice grate I9 is in lowered position, as shown in Fig. 5, the ice bunker can be filled with ice from the ceiling to a point near the floor of car.

The operation of changing the ice grates from collapsed position (as shown in Fig. 4) to raised,

ice supporting position comprises swinging grate I9 upon its link members 69II in a direction laterally of the car, after which the grate M is dropped to the horizontal position with its end portions in position to abut the end portion of grate I9 to restrain it from falling back to lowered position. 7

To lower the grates I9 and place all of the grates in position for storing the bulkhead against end of car, the grate 2i is first swung upwardly to avertical position where it may be secured by means of any ofthe' conventional, hooks designed for this purpose,1,after whichthe grates" I9- are swung'dow-nupon their supports.

Having thusdescribed nay-invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker, an ice grate swing'ably secured to said car and being swingable from a horizontal position parallel with and adjacent the car floor to an elevated horizontal position.

2. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker, a bulkhead forming a wall of said bunker and being movable to a position parallel with and ad jacent a wall of said car, an ice grate movable from a substantially horizontal position to a position parallel with and adjacent to said last named wall, a wall of said bulkhead being inwardly offset coincident with said ice grate when said bulkhead and said grate are in stored position adjacent said wall of said car, said bulkhead and said grate being adapted to telescope each other whereby said grate will be substantially Within the vertical boundaries of said bulkhead when said bulkhead and grate are in stored position.

3. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, an ice supporting grate in said bunker, said grate being movable from a horizontal position parallel with and adjacent the floor of the car to an elevated horizontal position, and

an ice supporting grate in said bunker pivotally mounted upon a wall of said bunker movable from a vertical position to a horizontal position in substantial alignment with said first named grate when said first named grate is in elevated position.

4. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, an ice supporting grate in said bunker,

said grate being movable from a horizontal position adjacent the floor of the car to an elevated horizontal position, an ice supporting grate pivotally mounted upon a wall portion of said bunker movable from a vertical position adjacent said wall portion to a horizontal position adjacent to and in substantial planar alignment with said first named grate when said first named grate is in elevated ice supporting position, and a plurality of links pivotally secured to said first named grate and to a portion of said car.

5. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, an ice supporting grate in said bunker, said grate being movable from an ice supporting position to a lowered position parallel with and adjacent the floor of the car, a gratemember mounted in said car adjacent the floor of said car and adjacent a margin of said grate when said grate is in lowered position, the upper surface of said grate and the upper surface of said grate member being in substantial planar alignment when said grate is in lowered position.

6. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, an ice supporting grate in said bunker, said grate being movable to a position parallel with and adjacent the floor of the car, a plurality of links pivotally secured to said grate and to a portion of said car, and a grate member pivotally secured to said grate adapted to assume a position parallel with the plane of said grate when said grate is in lowered position adjacent the floor of car, and adapted to assume a depending vertical position when said grate is obliquely moved to an elevated position.

'7. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, an ice supporting grate in said bunker, said grate being movable from a horizontal position adjacent the floor of the car to an elevated horizontal position, a plurality of links movably securing said grate to said car, an ice supporting grate hingedly mounted adjacent'a wall of said bunker movable from a position parallel with and adjacent said wall to a horizontal position adjacent to said first named grate when said first named grate is in elevated position, the hingedly mounted grate when in horizontal position being adapted to abut a marginal partion of said first named grate whereby to limit the movement in one direction of said first named grate. l

8. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, a pair of opposed horizontally extending ice supporting grates in said bunker, said grates being mounted for movement toward each other and to a position parallel with and in overlying adjacent spaced relationship with said floor, an auxiliary grate member intermediate a margin of said first named grate and a side wall of the car when said first named grate is adjacent the said floor, the upper surface of said auxiliarygrate and the upper surface of said first named grate being in a substantially common plane when said first named grate is adjacent said fioor.

9. In a refrigerator car having an ice bunker at one end, an ice supporting grate in said bunker, link means for movably mounting said grate in said bunker, one end of said link means being pivotally secured to said grate and the other end being pivotally mounted in a mounting secured to a portion of said car, an auxiliary grate member hingedly secured to said grate adjacent said mounting, said grate being movable to a position adjacent the floor of the car, a portion of said mounting being adapted to support said auxiliary grate member when said grate is adjacent the floor of car.

ARTHUR ,F. OCONNOR. 

